A boy and his dog

Sam and I were exercising today, and Sam tried to lay on the mat to do some sit-ups. Well, whenever we sit down on the floor or lean down near Owen's space, he sees that as an open invitation to dive bomb us, or sit on us, as seen here. He thought the mat was just a fine place to land. Then his face looks so nonchalant, like he is asking us, What? why are you looking at me? Can't a dog lay down in peace? He is quite the character!

Cooking

We went to the library today and brought home about ten cookbooks. This was our first creation-garlic shrimp pasta with cliantro-yummy!

Owen the jumper

We brought Owen out with us to enjoy the beautiful weather, and he went wild! He would chase the leaves as the boys raked them. If they raked the leaves up, he jumped to get them. He is quite the acrobat!

Fun outside

Eric loves climbing trees.

That is Sam buried in the leaves. He said it is very warm underneath all of those leaves.

Watching History being made

We have had the most amazing political conversations in the past year. Talking about our Presidential election has been a very hot topic in our house. I was very surprised at how much we talked about all of the aspects of the government. We watched all night tonight waiting to see who was going to win. We are in Ohio, so we were anxiously awaiting to see the result from our State. This election felt different to me, more hopeful than any other.

more WOW screenshots

Here is Eric's character in Bear form.

Eric's WOW screen shots

This is Eric's pet piggy on World of Warcraft. His name is Mr. Wiggles, isn't he cute?

Stir,stir ,stir

Sam took a picture of me stirring a glass with a homeopathic remedy in it. We go through this routine every night, and he thinks it is funny when he hears the spoon hitting the glass and coming his way. He jokes that he always knows where I am when I stir it up. He imitates me stirring, but he likes to exaggerate the noise!

Hiding

Sam being silly hiding behind his glove.

funny t-shirt

I think Eric's shirt is great! It says, "video games destroyed my life. Good thing I have 2 extra lives". Doesn't it look like his life is destroyed?? haha It is so amusing to us when we see t-shirts like these. There was a time when I thought video games would be bad for my kids. Not anymore. I have seen so many benefits to playing these games. Just one more thing that I needed to learn to trust instead of coming from a place of fear! Amazing things happen when I trust!

The beauty of Fall

I love the colors of Fall.

Don't let them out!

Come on up, but watch out for the spooky guys behind me.

Tim and Eric looking spooky for Halloween in the garage!

Welcome

This is what was answering our door tonight. I wonder why kids were running away scared. Those are Eric's feet, he was playing dead!

Getting ready to go trick or treating

Sam decided that he wanted to go out trick or treating for part of the time. He came back after 45 minutes and said that he would rather hand out candy. He sat in front of the garage where the scary monsters were.

Beware.....

Eric decided that he wanted to stay home to scare the trick or treaters instead of going trick or treating. He said he had more fun this year than any other Halloween. He and Tim put on scary masks and stood behind the garage door with lights flashing. It was fun to watch the kids come up to the window and keep asking if they were real. Every once in awhile Eric would move and the kids would shriek and say I saw it move!! It was fun!

Cutie patooties

Isn't she just adorable?!

I loved watching all of the little ones with their cute costumes. Here goes a little lion! So sweet!

Carving time

We finally went to get some pumpkins today, and turned them into jack-o-lanterns!

Don't move

Eric was practicing his aim with his nerf gun tonight. Owen was the intended target. Of course, he would never actually shoot Owen. Owen just happens to sit very still when the gun is aimed at him, so it is pretty entertaining to watch him. He can be moving and looking all around, but he freezes when Eric points the gun at him!

More fingerboarding action

Eric didn't want to be in the picture, but wanted me to try to get an action shot. He is fingerboarding over items on the kitchen counter.

Scary looking dude

Sam is trying to decide what to be on Halloween. I looked outside today to see a scary looking catcher. It was actually pretty funny! He has been wearing the mask around alot.

Attachment Parenting Article in paper

I was so excited to open the newspaper this morning to see an article about Attachment Parenting. Although, I don't like the title of the article, because it insinuates that there are bad kids. I believe ALL kids are good! To quote Dr. William Sears, "what this world needs, is more attachment-parented kids". His article talks about how this type of parenting, "helps the child learn to develop secure, peaceful, and enduring relationships." He is doing a seminar here in a couple of weeks, and it is so exciting to me that he is speaking. Attachment Parenting led me to the path of unschooling, and I am forever gratedul for that!

My very cool and very bouncy hat

So, if you have to be cold, why not have a very cool and colorful bouncy hat?! I just love this hat, it makes me smile! Sam and Eric were happy that it was dark outside when I wore it, they think it looks pretty funny (or more like embarrassing).

Cold enough for a hat

Well, it seems the cold is upon us-we are trying to embrace it happily! I am not having such an easy time with that. We are getting ready to take Owen for a walk, and we actually needed heavy coats and hats!

Gi-normous mosquito

We had to take a picture, because even though it is getting cold out, somehow this huge mosquito got in the house. EWWW

Air pump

Eric was playing around with Owen using a hand airpump. Owen was so funny, he would stand still and then Eric would pump air into his face and he would go crazy. he kept coming back for more!

Candle of Happiness

My yummy smelling candle of Happiness. It was shining especially bright today.

Eric enjoying WOW

Eric recently started playing WOW again, after taking many months off. He is very passionate about it again, and I love seeing him so happily engaged in the game. Off course, he has Freddy front and center watching him play. And, Stuart the guinea pig grazing in the background.

yummy brownies

I was in the mood to make brownies from scratch tonight. I have no idea what happened to the one that is missing. I turned around for just a second, and it was gone.

Scooby snack

We were just about ready to go to bed when Eric and Sam decided they really just had to have some gold fish crackers. Of course, when there is food involved, Owen is also involved. He can be in a dead sleep, but be ready to roll within a split second if there is food involved. He is sticking his head in his box of treats, and Eric was also teaching him not to move while the goldfish was on his nose. He did a pretty good job at that. Of course, he is very skilled at eating the goldfish!

Sam's passion

Many times a day, Sam can be found outside throwing the baseball against the garage. He loves everything baseball.

The Bat Mobile and The Munster Mobile

Tim "had to" go to California for a business trip this weekend. He "had to" go to a dinner that was put on by the Pimp My Ride show. Sounds very stressful, right?! He got to see some pretty cool stuff. This is the original Bat Mobile. And, of course the car from The Munsters, the coolest unschooling family. heehee

Ozzy Osbourne

Tim got to see Ozzy rockin' the house at the Pimp My Ride party. He said he was still rockin' just as hard as he ever has!

Sick!

Nobody was really feeling up to taking pictures because we have all been sick. So, this is what we did for about three days-lay around. I really hate being sick, so it was hard for me to do mostly nothing all day. We are doing better now, but we skipped a few days of pictures.

Autumn

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I spotted this beautiful leaf on my way out to the mailbox today, only to remember that there was no mail because of Columbus Day.

Bakugan

Eric is starting to learn how to play the game Bakugan. The little characters are so much fun to play around with. We are still learning all of the rules, but so far we like it!